FEBRUARY 2013 -- Federal safety regulators have opened a new safety investigation into 724,000 Ford Escape, Fusion and Mercury models over hundreds of reports of sudden loss of engine power.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it has opened a preliminary investigation into the 2009-11 Ford Escape and Fusion, and Mercury Mariner and Milan. NHTSA said it has 123 reports indicating allegations of reduced power or vehicle stall in Escape vehicles under investigation.

Ford made a design change in 2009 to address complaints but did not recall the vehicles. NHTSA said there have been 27,500 warranty claims for the issue, along with reports of three crashes and one injury. Ford has received more than 1,400 complaints about the issue.

"We are cooperating fully with NHTSA on this investigation, as we do on all investigations," said Ford spokeswomanr.

Vehicles manufactured between June 2009 and October 2009 may contain contaminated circuit boards with plating variations, NHTSA said. Plating variations could lead to a failure. Ford and its supplier, Delphi Corp., modified the manufacturing process and issued a technical service bulletin in October 2010, NHTSA said.

Vehicles produced after Oct. 15, 2009 have electronic throttle bodies manufactured with a new process that resolved this condition, the government said. The bulletin instructed dealers to replace the throttle body on a number of Ford and Lincoln vehicles. Depending on the condition of throttle control system malfunction, a driver may experience varying levels of reduced engine performance.

Vehicles are not likely to unexpectedly stall as a result, but drivers may describe it as a stall even though the engine is still running, NHTSA said. Separately, NHTSA said it received 59 complaints alleging incidents of engine stalling while driving in model year 2010-11 Ford Fusions.

About 60 percent of the incidents occurred at speeds of 40 miles per hour or more.

DECEMBER 2011 -- Ford is recalling certain model year 2010-2011 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan vehicles equipped with 17 inch steel wheels and built from April 1, 2009, through April 30, 2009, and from December 1, 2009, through November 13, 2010. The wheel studs may fracture, potentially causing a wheel to separate. While driving, multiple stud fractures could occur at the wheel location, and the operator may experience vehicle vibration and/or wheel separation, increasing the risk of a crash. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the rear brake disc surface for flatness and replace the discs as necessary. Additionally, the wheel lug nuts will be replaced on all four wheels. The safety recall is expected to begin on or about January 24, 2012. 11V-574

MAY 2010 -- Ford is recalling certain model year 2010 Fusion, Milan, and Escape vehicles manufactured from February 27, through March 26, 2010. The park rod guide retention pin may not have been properly installed which fails to conform to the requirement of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 114, "Theft Protection and Rollaway Prevention". A vehicle parked without an engaged park pawl and without an applied parking brake may have unintended movement which may cause a crash. Ford will notify owners and dealers will repair the vehicles free of charge. The safety recall began on May 28, 2010. Ford's recall campaign number is 10C12. 10V-222

YAHOO NEWS – June 1, 2010 – U.S. safety regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into the possibility that accelerator pedals could be entrapped by floormats in Ford Motor Co (F.N) 2010 Fusion and Mercury Milan sedans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had verified three complaints of accelerator pedals being trapped by unsecured "all-weather" floormats in the current production model year of the Fusion.

The NHTSA warned owners not to place unsecured floormats on top of the standard, carpeted floormat on the driver's side. It opened an investigation on Friday that covers an estimated 249,301 Fusion and Milan sedans.

Ford spokesman ... said instructions imprinted on the automaker's all-weather floormats warn owners not to place them on top of existing floormats, as does the packaging.

"We do not recommend stacking floormats in any vehicle,"... "We will cooperate fully with NHTSA as we always do."

The NHTSA said it had received no complaints involving crashes, injuries or fatalities in the Ford vehicles. Any optional all-weather floormats should be installed only after removing the standard floormats, the agency said.

Edmunds.com,, director of vehicle testing at Edmunds.com, described in mid-April an incident of unintended acceleration in a 2010 Fusion hybrid caused when the accelerator pedal became entrapped by a stacked floormat.

Edmunds said the accelerator became stuck for three or four seconds after he passed slower traffic on his commute to work before returning to normal. A second experimental acceleration had a similar result, he said in a web posting. He reported the incident to the NHTSA.